A/HRC/42/CRP.1
facilitate rapid an unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief. This obligation is also
violated as the de facto authorities have prevented access for humanitarian organisations to
conduct needs assessments. There are also reasonable grounds to believe that the rights to
food and water, as well as to healthcare have not been respected by the de facto authorities.
(See chapter on violations related to the humanitarian situation, section on access
restrictions for more details).
(e)
Arbitrary arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances, and torture
“One of my brothers is abducted, another was killed. My eldest sons were
lost for two months. We fled in different directions, not knowing where they
went”.
Displaced man from Abbaysah
470. Evidence collected by the Group of Experts indicates that during and following the
hostilities in Hajour, there were widespread arrests of men from the area, 752 who were
reportedly detained by the Houthis at checkpoints and from hospitals, 753 including in one
case from a hospital in Sana’a.754 According to families and sources from the region, many
of those arrested without any grounds were held in Hajjah, in what used to be the Political
Security facility that has been since turned into an unofficial detention place by the
Houthis.755 Others were reportedly detained in Sana’a or in Amran.756 Some families told
the Group of Experts that some of the disappeared had taken part in the armed
confrontations with the Houthis, while others were civilians who had either attempted to
flee, or were taken from their homes, from checkpoints on their way out of the area, or
taken from hospital by Houthi armed men.
471. A witness told the Group of Experts how his relative was taken from hospital by the
Houthis and disappeared after he had been injured while “defending their home like some
other young men had done.”757 Another individual, a civilian who was stranded in an area
called Naham al-Gharb, an area where the Group received reports of 71 men being
disappeared,758 reportedly went to the local governor when the restrictions increased to seek
advice, because he feared the Houthis would target him since he was from Abbaysah. The
man was reportedly handed over to the Houthis and sent to the political security detention
facility in Hajjah. He has since disappeared.759
472. The Group of Experts received information760 from various sources alleging that up
to 294 individuals (male), including two boys and at least 240 civilians have disappeared at
the hands of the Houthis in Hajour since January 2019. Their fate and location reportedly
remained unknown.
473. The Group of Experts investigated761 two cases of reported deaths in detention of
men from Hajour since the onset of the conflict in January 2019. Reportedly, one of the
men was a teacher who was arrested by Houthi armed men at a checkpoint while travelling
to reach his family.762 The Group of Experts has reasonable grounds to believe that he died
in detention. The Group could not verify the allegations of torture nor ascertain the
circumstances of his death, though he reportedly bore marks of torture on his hands, head
and neck.763 The second man was reportedly taken from hospital by the Houthis, after he
was injured by shrapnel. According to sources, he had not taken part in the armed
752
Confidential Sources on File.
Confidential Sources on File.
754 Confidential Sources on File.
755 Confidential Sources on File.
756 Confidential Sources on File.
757 Confidential Sources on File.
758 Confidential Sources on File.
759 Confidential Sources on File.
760 Confidential Sources on File.
761 Confidential Sources on File.
762 Confidential Sources on File.
763 Confidential Sources on File.
753
117
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